The #1 Pricing Mistake Fractional CMOs Still Make
In this issue:
B2B companies don’t hire fractional CMOs for cost savings but for speed and “outside perspective”
The Fractional vs. Interim CMO distinction (and how to price correctly)
How to run four fractional CMO clients simultaneously without burning out
1. B2B companies don’t hire fractional CMOs for cost savings but for speed and “outside perspective”
The Missing Half podcast with Bill Woods, Episode #73: What Every B2B Leader Should Know About Fractional CMOs with Carlos Hidalgo from Digital Exhaust (Oct. 9, 2025)
TLDR
Companies don't hire fractional CMOs just to save money – they hire them for speed, expertise, and the ability to move fast without internal politics
A fractional CMO's superpower is bringing an outside perspective that isn't clouded by "the way we've always done it"
The sweet spot for fractional work is companies doing $5-50M in revenue who need strategic marketing leadership without a $200K+ salary commitment
Carlos Hidalgo, a B2B marketing veteran, breaks down what B2B leaders need to know about fractional CMOs. His key insight: if you think companies hire fractional CMOs just because they're cheaper than full-time executives, you're missing the real value proposition.
Speed and objectivity trump cost savings
Yes, fractional CMOs cost less than full-time executives. But that's not why companies hire them. They hire fractional leaders because they can move faster. A fractional CMO isn't bogged down by internal politics, they're not trying to build an empire, and they're not worried about stepping on toes. They come in with a clear mandate: identify what's broken, recommend fixes, and help execute.
Hidalgo calls this the "outside perspective advantage." When you've worked at a company for years, you develop blind spots. You assume certain things are impossible because you tried them three years ago and they failed. You accept inefficiencies because they've become part of the culture.
The $5-50M revenue sweet spot
Not every company is a good fit for a fractional CMO. Below $5M, companies typically need hands-on execution more than strategic leadership. Above $50M, they usually have the resources and complexity that justifies a full-time CMO.
In that middle range, companies have real marketing challenges: they're beyond DIY marketing but not yet ready to hire a full executive team. They might have a marketing manager or director who's tactical but needs strategic oversight. Or they might have no marketing leadership at all and need someone to build the function from scratch.
Three scenarios where fractional CMOs excel
First: the company is preparing for a significant transition like a PE investment, acquisition, or rapid growth phase. They need a seasoned marketing leader to guide them through the transition without committing to a permanent hire until the dust settles.
Second: the company has a marketing team but the team lacks strategic direction. They're busy executing tactics (social posts, email campaigns, trade shows) but there's no cohesive strategy tying it together. A fractional CMO comes in, creates the strategy, aligns the team, and gets everyone moving in the same direction.
Third: the company needs to solve a specific problem like entering a new market, repositioning the brand, or building a demand generation engine from scratch. They need expertise fast, and a fractional CMO brings pattern recognition from having solved similar problems at other companies.
2. The Fractional vs. Interim CMO distinction (and how to price correctly)
CMO Huddle Studio with Alan Gonsenhauser, Episode: Fractional CMOing (Oct. 6, 2025)
TLDR
Fractional CMOs work part-time with multiple clients and maintain outside perspective; interim CMOs work full-time temporarily and function like internal executives
Fractional engagements should be priced on value delivered (strategic impact) not hourly; interim roles are typically priced as day rates or monthly fees
The first 90 days as a fractional or interim CMO should focus on quick wins, trust-building, and aligning the executive team and board on priorities
Alan Gonsenhauser, an 11x CMO and founder of Demand Revenue, has mentored over 150 CMOs and run both fractional and interim engagements. He breaks down the critical distinction between fractional and interim work, and why conflating the two leads to misaligned expectations and failed engagements.
Fractional vs. interim: the real difference
The terms get used interchangeably, but they're fundamentally different. A fractional CMO works part-time (typically 10-20 hours per week) with multiple clients simultaneously. They maintain outside perspective, bringing best practices and patterns from across their client portfolio. They're advisory and strategic, working through the internal team for execution.
An interim CMO is full-time and temporary, stepping in to fill a gap while the company searches for a permanent hire or navigates a transition. They function like an internal executive: attending all leadership meetings, making operational decisions, managing the team directly. They're inside the business, not outside looking in.
These require different skills and different pricing models. Fractional work requires the ability to context-switch between clients and deliver strategic value in compressed time. Interim work requires the stamina to dive deep into one company and operate at full executive intensity for months.
How to price fractional vs. interim engagements
Pricing fractional work hourly is a trap. Gonsenhauser advises pricing based on value delivered, not time spent. If you're helping a company develop go-to-market strategy for a new product that could generate $10 million in revenue, your value isn't in the 15 hours you spent on strategy. It's in the impact of getting that launch right versus wrong. Price for outcomes: $5,000-15,000 monthly retainers based on company size, complexity, and strategic scope.
Interim pricing follows different logic. Because you're full-time and can't take other clients, you need to charge rates that replace a full-time salary plus benefits. Gonsenhauser sees interim CMO day rates ranging from $1,500-3,000 depending on experience and company size, or monthly fees of $25,000-50,000 for full-time interim work. Companies accept these rates because they're still significantly cheaper than hiring a permanent CMO with salary, benefits, equity, and severance risk.
The 90-day trust-building playbook
Whether fractional or interim, Gonsenhauser's first 90 days follow a consistent playbook.
Day one through 30: listen and learn. Meet with every stakeholder: CEO, sales leader, product leader, key customers. Ask questions, take notes, absorb context. Don't make recommendations yet. This builds trust because people see you're genuinely trying to understand before prescribing solutions.
Day 30 through 60: identify quick wins and align leadership. Present your findings to the executive team and board. Lay out what's working, what's broken, and where you see opportunities. Get alignment on the top three priorities for the next 90 days.
Day 60 through 90: deliver the quick wins. Execute on the priorities you aligned on. Maybe it's fixing messaging that sales can use to close deals faster. Maybe it's implementing a lead scoring system that helps sales focus on qualified prospects. Maybe it's repositioning the brand to enter a new market segment. Whatever it is, deliver tangible results that demonstrate value.
When fractional fails (and how to avoid it)
Gonsenhauser has seen fractional engagements fail for predictable reasons. The most common: the company expected a fractional CMO to also be a doer. They hired for strategic leadership but wanted someone who would also manage social media, write blog posts, and execute email campaigns. This is a mismatch: you can't do strategic leadership and tactical execution in 15 hours per week.
The fix: be crystal clear about scope during the sales process. Explain exactly what you will and won't do. A fractional CMO develops strategy, makes big decisions, guides the team, and brings outside perspective. Execution happens through the internal team, contractors, or agencies. If the company needs a doer, they need a different solution.
Another failure mode: the company isn't ready for strategic leadership. Maybe they don't have product-market fit yet. Maybe the CEO hasn't defined a clear vision. Maybe there's no budget for marketing execution.
In these cases, strategy is premature. They need to solve more fundamental problems first. Gonsenhauser advises walking away from these engagements or helping them solve the prerequisite problems before taking on the CMO role.
3. How to run four fractional CMO clients simultaneously without burning out
Oh Frac! Podcast, Episode #12: Sjeel Koster - Ex Director of Marketing at Lightspeed says Fractional is the Future (Oct. 6, 2025)
TLDR
Time-blocking by client is essential for managing 4+ concurrent fractional engagements – dedicate specific days or half-days to each client to maintain focus
Your LinkedIn profile and consistent posting are your best client acquisition channels; Sjeel generated 60% of her clients from LinkedIn presence alone
Set hard boundaries between fractional leadership (strategy) and interim work (full-time operations) – trying to do both simultaneously leads to burnout
Sjeel Koster went from startup employee #16 at SEOshop (acquired by Lightspeed) to EMEA marketing lead by age 25, helped guide the company through IPO and M&A waves, founded Holiday Hero, and now operates as a sought-after fractional CMO managing four concurrent clients.
Her insight: success in fractional work isn't about working harder, it's about working smarter with ruthless boundaries and systematic processes.
Time-blocking to prevent burnout
Managing multiple fractional clients without losing your mind comes down to one practice: strict time-blocking by client. Koster dedicates specific days or half-days to each client and protects that time religiously.
Monday might be Client A and Client B (half-day each). Tuesday and Wednesday might be Client C. Thursday is Client D, and Friday is reserved for business development and admin.
This isn't just calendar optimization. It's cognitive load management. When you're constantly context-switching between clients throughout the day – a call with Client A at 9am, emails for Client B at 10am, strategy work for Client C at 11am – your brain never settles. You're always ramping up, never achieving deep focus.
Koster also sets clear communication boundaries. Clients know their designated days. Non-urgent questions get batched for the next scheduled session. True emergencies get handled immediately, but "emergency" is defined narrowly – not "can you review this social post?" but "our biggest customer just threatened to leave and we need messaging advice for the CEO's call in two hours." This training takes discipline initially but clients adapt quickly.
LinkedIn as a client acquisition engine
60% of Koster's clients found her through LinkedIn. Not LinkedIn ads, not InMail spam, not aggressive outreach. Organic presence. She posts consistently about fractional CMO work, shares insights from her client engagements (anonymized), and engages thoughtfully in comments on other people's posts. This creates a steady stream of inbound interest.
Her content strategy is “share what you're learning in real-time.” When she helps a client solve a pricing problem, she posts about pricing strategy (without revealing client details). When she navigates a tricky board presentation, she shares lessons about presenting to boards.
The profile itself matters too. Koster optimized her headline to clearly state what she does: "Fractional CMO | Helping B2B SaaS Companies Scale from $5M to $50M." Not "Marketing Leader | Passionate About Growth | AI Enthusiast." Specificity converts.
The hard line between fractional and interim
Koster draws a sharp distinction between fractional and interim work. Fractional means part-time, strategic leadership with clear boundaries. Interim means full-time, operational responsibility. If a client needs someone to attend every leadership meeting, manage the team day-to-day, and handle operational details, that's interim. And it requires a different commitment and pricing model.
She has turned down opportunities where companies wanted "fractional" but expected interim-level involvement. They'd say things like "we need you available all the time" or "we need you in the office three days a week." That's not fractional, that's a full-time job disguised with part-time language. Taking those engagements leads to burnout and makes it impossible to serve other clients effectively.
Landing the first fractional clients
Koster landed her first two fractional clients through her existing network. She reached out to founders and CEOs she knew from her corporate days and pitched fractional CMO services.
These first clients weren't glamorous or high-paying. One paid $3,000 monthly, the other $4,000 monthly. But they gave her two crucial things: experience in the fractional model and case studies to show future prospects.
After six months with these first clients, she had results to share. Client A increased lead generation by 60%. Client B successfully launched a new product line that generated $2M in first-year revenue.
She wrote about them (with permission) on LinkedIn, added them to her website, and referenced them in conversations with prospects. The next clients came easier and paid better.
Her advice for landing those crucial first clients: don't wait for perfection. Take engagements at slightly lower rates to build experience and case studies. The experience of actually operating as a fractional CMO – navigating multiple client relationships, managing your time, delivering results – is more valuable than waiting for the perfect high-paying client.
Disclaimer
The Fractional CMO Brief extracts key insights from publicly available podcasts for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal or financial advice; please consult qualified professionals before acting. We attribute brands and podcast titles only to identify the source; such nominative use is consistent with trademark fair-use principles. Limited quotations and references are used for commentary and news reporting under U.S. fair-use doctrine.
